


The Assistant

by Sterling_Jay



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Pre-Relationship, This was a bit experimental, the briefest mention of past alcohol abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-08 22:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8866321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sterling_Jay/pseuds/Sterling_Jay
Summary: Their relationship has changed so much over the years





	

At 10:15, Kara Danvers is an insignificant blip in Cat Grant's awareness. She knows, of course, that the girl- she's 23, still a girl, still a child, still dressing like her mother picked out her clothes for her from the bargain bin- will one day be a reporter. A damn good one, if Cat has anything to say about it. But she's just a blip, and Cat hardly gives her a second glance after hiring her.

* * *

 

A year later, Kara Danvers has her interest. A bright ball of sunshine, dedicated to her every need, necessity and contrarian whim (when she says 'chai', she doesn't mean 'chai tea', Kiera, because that's just 'tea tea' when you translate it, it means a specific flavor of tea, and no, I won't specify which, because you ought to be intelligent enough to figure it out! -she does. Every time.). She navigates Cat's moods with ease like a confident sailor on the turbulent seas, knows when the empty glass tumbler held out demandingly means alcohol or M&Ms. Somehow, she even knows when Carter is coming up, substituting the desperately needed alcohol for the M&Ms, weathering Cat's fury until the boy is in the room, and then she's relieved to not have the sharp tang of alcohol on her breath. Carter didn't need to be exposed to that. Not again. So Kara Danvers has her interest, and while she might not know it, her gratitude.

* * *

 

At 25, Kara Danvers has finally begun to transition from 'girl', to 'woman', still wearing frumpy, unfashionable cardigans, but finally finding her confidence, able to look Cat in the eye and demand fair treatment. She has borne the brunt of the worst of Cat's moods, even when they were focused on her, and, Cat will admit it, unfairly harsh. She's held up to every responsibility Cat has given her and more, the weight of saving humanity heavy on her shoulders, Cat can see it in her eyes.

And somewhere in the two years between 10:15 and 25, Cat has begun to feel something more for her assistant-turned-reporter. Every battle Kara has gone through, every loss and humiliation...it would break a lesser woman, Cat thinks, knows that under so much pressure, she herself would collapse into tears and give up the fight. And yet, Kara refuses to fall, comes in every day with a smile on her face (she can be forgiven if it's gone before noon, Snapper Carr is sandpaper on the psyche), keeps moving, keeps her goodness wrapped around herself and those she loves like a warm blanket, and Cat admires that more than she can express.

She leaves. Kara Danvers is 25 and so, so beautiful, and Cat wants to see the woman she'll become, and she doesn't think she would be able to resist the temptation to lean in and take her for herself, mold her into what she wants to see...She knows the finished product, the woman that Kara herself will build, will be so much sweeter than whatever Cat can dream up. That Kara, allowed to flourish and grow into herself without leaning so heavily on the support that she'd had before, will be so much stronger, so much _more_ if given the chance.

* * *

 

Cat lasts six months outside of CatCo, keeping track of Supergirl's exploits through CatCo's website, watches Kara move up the ranks from a simple stringer to a featured reporter, reads the emails that Kara sends her as they go from bitter and annoyed about Snapper's view of her to joyful that he was finally warming up to her (and Cat can't help but snort when she sees a picture of her now-star reporter and editor in chief with an arm wrapped around each other's shoulders, because of course Kara could charm even Snapper into friendship eventually).

Six months away from CatCo, and when she lands, she's not at all surprised to see Kara as part of the welcoming committee. A warm smile, a shy hug, so unlike the last one they'd shared when Cat had told her she'd be leaving...Cat wants nothing more than to sink into it, but she feels her other employees eyes on them, knows that even now, Kara's not done growing. Not that she ever will be, but there's still too much childhood in her eyes for Cat to want to try now. Of course she wants Kara, of course she does, she'd wanted her in some capacity since 10:15. But then, it was purely physical and about the power she'd wield over someone so willing to attend to her needs. And now it's something that might eventually be love, might already be love, and Cat _wants_. But while she can see the hero in Kara, she can also see the child, and she won't begrudge her that time to grow into herself, won't push them into something sooner than she should where they'll fall together and apart faster than they might if Cat simply...waited.

It takes Cat another six months to feel like she's gotten to know Kara for the first time. Not Kara Danvers, 'the best damn assistant I've ever had', but Kara Zor-El, the woman who stands (floats) somewhere between Sunny Danvers and Supergirl, that mixture of nearly-woman and hero.

Kara Zor-El is not simply the bastion of goodness that Supergirl is, ready to drop everything to save others. She's selfish and self-centered and has needs and wants that she'll put over those of others. She's also not only the bright ball of joy and sunshine that is Kara Danvers. Kara Zor-El has known pain and loss that few others can claim to know, and she feels those hurts as deeply as she does her joys. It's rare that she'll express it, rare that she allows those wounds to show, and Cat treasures every one of them for the trust that Kara shows her through them. She is profoundly happy to see Kara Zor-El's shortcomings, if only so she can say to herself that yes, Kara has her flaws, isn't perfect. That yes, Kara too, is only human.

Even if that's not quite true.

* * *

 

At 27, Kara Danvers has gone from beautiful to breathtaking in every way a person can, inside and out. Cat can see a girl who is still a child at heart, who still feels joy like a child does, in every inch of herself; can see a hero who cares for every one of the citizens of the city she calls home, can see a woman who is confident in herself and her place in the world.

At 10:15, Kara Danvers confidently strolls into Cat's reclaimed office (briefly becomes that shy, stuttering mess that she's always been, always will be) and asks her on a date, and Cat happily accepts.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm JessWritingsome on twitter and Sterling-Jay on tumblr. Feel free to stop in and say hello!


End file.
